Pound Sterling to Rupee Exchange Rate (GBP/INR) Higher Today as Global Slowdown Fears hit Emerging Markets

October 15, 2014 - Written by Frank Davies

STORY LINK Pound Sterling to Rupee Exchange Rate (GBP/INR) Higher Today as Global Slowdown Fears hit Emerging Markets

Currency News UK presents our current Indian Rupee (INR) exchange rate news today and forecasts in relation to the UK Pound Sterling (GBP).

Surprisingly weak economic data out of the USA increased fears that the global economy is slowing on Wednesday and in turn caused investors to flock to safer assets and away from the riskier commodity and emerging market currencies.

The Pound had found some support earlier in the session from data, which showed that the UK unemployment rate fell more than expected to 6%, the lowest rate seen since 2008.

Latest INR rates today:

The US Dollar to Indian Rupee exchange rate is 1 USD equals 61.20500 INR.

Economic data released in India on Tuesday weighed, as it was slightly negative after it showed that the Asian nation’s Wholesale Price Index fell from a reading of 3.74% to 2.38%. The decline sent the figure below the Bank of India’s target of 3%.

Falling inflation and negative data releases from the world’s major economies has caused volatility to soar. The European volatility index surged to its highest level since mid-2012 as investors grow jittery and rush to reduce their exposure to risky assets.

The Rupee had been holding onto gains thanks to the continuing fall in crude oil prices. India is a major importer of the commodity and economists had been speculating that the fall in prices would assist in shrinking the nation’s trade deficit.

The fall in oil prices however was somewhat countered by an increase in the value of gold. If gold goes up then you know the markets are panicking as more investors purchase the precious metal.

Gold imports by India are expected to have soared fourfold last month as weaker price in September boosted festival demand. India is the world’s second biggest importer of Gold behind China.

The US Dollar declined to its lowest level in five weeks against the Japanese Yen as weak domestic economic data raised concerns that the world’s largest economy is faltering. The worries were enough to pile pressure on emerging markets assets such as the Rupee. The poor US data adds to the poor data coming out of Germany and the wider Eurozone.

‘Looks like a hot potato of bad data has been passed from Germany to the United States. The market was so convinced that strong US Dollar was going to be the next move,’ said the head of foreign exchange at New York brokerage Chapdelaine & Co.

The Rupee is forecast to remain under sustained pressure unless Thursdays US Jobless Claims data eases some of the panic in the markets.

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